Star of Seville takes French Oaks on short rest

Star of Seville, last seen racing just nine days ago in England, won the Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) by one length over Physiocrate on Sunday at Chantilly. The major win came just eight days after jockey Frankie Dettori and trainer John Gosden had teamed to win the Epsom Derby with Golden Horn.

In the June 5 Epsom Oaks, Star of Seville already was beginning to tire after making the pace when she was bothered in the final furlong, fading back to ninth after the trouble, and Gosden wasted no time wheeling her back into action.

Her draw, 15 of 17, was poor, but Dettori essentially negated it riding Star of Seville out of the gate to take up a pressing position just behind and outside leading Little Nightingale. Running positions at the front remained unchanged until about a quarter-mile to go, when Dettori began asking Star of Seville, and the filly took the lead and began pulling clear. Racing with her head held somewhat high, but loving the relatively quick good ground, Star of Seville kept finding and finding, and Physiocrate, who came off the winner’s heels moving from inside to outside in mid-stretch, never really threatened. Pacesetting Little Nightingale held third, while favored Queen’s Jewel, unbeaten in three starts before Sunday, was the big disappointment, checking in 11th with no obvious excuse.

It was the first win in the race for Gosden and second for Dettori. Star of Seville, a Lady Bamford homebred by Duke of Marmalade out of the Selkirk mare Stage Presence, won for the fourth time in six starts while easily scoring the most important victory of her career. Before the Epsom Oaks, she had captured the Group 3 Musidora Stakes, her first win at the group level.